Encountering Evil: Dark Horse Guardians Book Two Read online

  Ben followed Claire to the bungalow located in town near the university where he taught. As Ben walked through the two-bedroom bungalow he immediately realized it would be perfect for Lara's renovation business. The 1918 Craftsman with stained glass and oak woodwork and built-ins retained its original features. He knew Lara would love it. It had formerly been utilized by a nutrition counselor. Claire seemed a bit surprised as he placed a refundable deposit in her hand. Ben affirmed, "My wife will love this. It's exactly the location she wanted. I don't want anyone else to view it. If you get another interested party, contact me at once and I'll make that a down payment. I just want to get her over here to view it briefly, but I know her taste." Ben sensed the realtor's excitement. As Claire closed the door Ben stood on the front porch of the Craftsman bungalow and watched the realtor drive away. His eyes swept over the bungalow one last time, as he climbed onto the motorcycle. Yes, this was Lara's place. He planned to talk with her at dinner about the bungalow and the farm, with the hope she would love both.

  ~ Lara ~

  Randall Bettencourt was waiting for Lara's arrival at the police station. All six-foot-four of him was standing in the parking lot, but he didn't have an air of impatience about him. Leaning against his cruiser he seemed to always be calm, Lara thought, as she parked the Fiat. He slowly walked toward her vehicle as she stepped out to meet him. Removing his hat, he smiled and his soft brown eyes held hers for a brief moment. With the sun directly on his face he looked much younger when he squinted, and his deep voice was soft but tinged with concern, "What's up?" Lara furrowed her brow, "Can we sit somewhere and talk privately?" Bettencourt moved toward his police cruiser, "Here?"

  Lara slid in next to him. "I don't know where to begin with this…I suspect there is child abuse taking place next door to one of my renovation projects. Well, actually I know it is taking place, there are witnesses." Bettencourt always listened attentively to Lara, but at this moment his face took on an expression that was all business. "Exactly where and who, give me the details."

  He took notes as Lara ran through what she knew and told him what she had heard on more than one occasion, blood curdling screams from what sounded like a young woman. Bettencourt promised he'd look into it without being obvious. He also said he'd talk to Ralph Perkins to get a report for the record. For now this satisfied her and she touched his arm lightly, "Thanks, Bett." She got out of the cruiser and into her Fiat and drove in the general direction of Falmouth Foreside and Eliot Stone's property to check on the massive renovation of his Tudor mansion. As she drove Lara contemplated what Randall Bettencourt might do to save the young woman from the abuse she was suffering at the hands of her own father. She felt certain she had done the right thing telling Bettencourt. If anyone could get to the bottom of something terrible, she felt he could.

  ~ Bettencourt ~

  As he watched Lara drive away, Randall Bettencourt ran his hand over his short brunette haircut and put his hat and sunglasses back on. Having been in Iraq and Afghanistan, he was all too familiar with how men treated women in that part of the world, thus he was not too surprised when Lara recounted the details of the suspected abuse. He would check it out, but there probably wasn't much he could do about it. He wanted to tell Lara that straight up, but when he looked into her young animated face and listened to her idealistic words, he didn't want to dash her hopes. Not just yet. She looked up to him and he had to admit he wished he had the high ideals she assumed he had.

  Bettencourt respected Lara and had forged a strong friendship with her over the past months. It had been such a long time since he had any type of relationship with a woman. Sure, there were late nights out with the guys and plenty of catch and release action with the chicks that were bold enough to send him a drink at the bar, but there wasn't a relationship. For a moment he felt himself sinking into the self-pity he so despised in others. He hadn't been the same since he received the Dear John letter from Elizabeth while he was in Iraq. He pushed those feelings aside now, not wanting to experience the sting it could produce. He blamed himself for the break-up, but in reality it was impossible to maintain a relationship while in the teams working as a frogman.

  What hurt the most was the guy who stole Elizabeth away from him was his best friend from high school, Eddie Knowles. This was a guy he grew up with and held in high esteem. As young boys the two caught tadpoles in pickle jars, built army forts out of railroad ties, went fly fishing, and in high school played football. And, it had to be Eddie that ended up with Elizabeth. It was as if his heart was broken twice.

  Even though Bettencourt fantasized about beating Eddie to a pulp when he returned from his tour of duty, once he got home he realized how futile that would be. Elizabeth and Eddie had moved to a town sixty miles to the north, Augusta Maine, the capitol city. Eddie was a member of the Maine legislature and ran a small restaurant. Elizabeth was a school teacher now. They had moved on with their lives leaving him in the wake. Bettencourt knew he had to take steps to move on with his life. But it was difficult when he felt like he still had a knife plunged into his heart. One night in a drunken stupor, he threw away all of the photographs of Elizabeth. He had come to the conclusion that photographs of him with Elizabeth served as reminders of the loss and made the knife twist a little more when he looked at them.

  Bettencourt was fond of Lara and considered her a good friend. She had been at the dojo for her mixed martial arts lesson when he first started there as a part-timer a month ago. Don Henderson was laid up with a pulled muscle and Bettencourt suddenly became her personal martial arts opponent. Impressed with the energy and persistence Lara had on the mat, he enjoyed training her in complex self defense moves. When she was flipped or blocked by his tactics, she came back with determination and focus. He enjoyed the first few sessions and hoped he'd get the chance to physically challenge her again. As Bettencourt pulled out of the police department parking lot he pondered the abuse Lara reported and was curious as to what was going on in the prestigious Portland neighborhood. A radio call quickly brought him back to the present. He turned on the blue lights as he sped to the scene of a robbery at a local pharmacy…business as usual.

  ~ Eliot Stone ~

  As Lara's red Fiat pulled into the driveway at his Falmouth estate, Eliot Stone had just arrived in his white 1956 Bentley. Filled with excitement he scrambled out of the Bentley to greet her. "Great timing," he smiled as he helped Lara out of her car. "Let me carry this stuff," Eliot said as he took the samples from her. Raphael greeted them at the door and Eliot led her to the library chattering as he walked, "It's a bit crazy living like this…with everything torn apart…now I know what our clients go through." Lara thanked Eliot for his help and patience with the project. "I'm trying to do this in phases, just as you taught me. I need to do a walk-through with Tony today, but I think we are on schedule and on budget." Lara assured him.

  Eliot Stone was attempting to hide the pure pleasure he felt in her presence. During the first phase of the renovation of his home he was ecstatic to have Lara at his house almost every day for a brief visit. She was attentive to this renovation and he was perfectly attuned to her scheduled visits. He made sure to time his arrival to hers and managed to do it with great accuracy. Today she looked lovely and Eliot examined her from head to toe as he tried not to be too conspicuous. She wore a beautiful long pink skirt with bead work on it. It floated around her ankles. A white camisole beneath a soft pink cotton cardigan topped off her feminine summer outfit. Her hair was loose and wavy. She wore a headband that made her look like she was even younger than twenty-five years old. As he stood next to her when she exited the car, he took in the heady vanilla aroma of her body. Eliot found himself making any excuse to touch her or be close to her every day.

  Lara was the perfect woman in his eyes. He constantly reminisced about the two years he spent with her as his intern. He felt they were inseparable until Lieutenant Ben Keegan arrived. Now Eliot had to jockey for the slightest bit of Lara’s attention. He
genuinely missed her companionship. Several people at the yacht club tried to set him up on a blind date and he even made the effort. But every woman he met paled in comparison to Lara. They either did not physically attract him or if they did, their intelligence did not match that of Lara's. Therefore, his life became focused on seeing Lara every day at 11:00 AM at his house for the renovation. Eliot knew the project would drag on through the summer. He was trying to convince her to go sailing, hoping to coordinate the excursion so it would coincide with the next time her husband was out of town.

  ~ Lara ~

  Tony Angioni, the foreman on Eliot's renovation, saw Lara arrive and poked his head into the library. "I'm ready when you are, Lara." Tony was another great contractor that Lara met during her internship at Stone and Associates. He was an older man, close to fifty, with silvery gray hair and light blue eyes. He was about six feet tall with a lean muscular build. The crew loved him. He worked alongside the men, often picking up a hammer or buying them lunch to keep the project moving along at a brisk pace. Lara liked Tony because he had a wonderful sense of humor and was a workaholic. There were some days when she had to actually send him home to his wife. Tony was a dedicated and trustworthy employee, exactly the type of guy to head up Lara's biggest project, Eliot's massive renovation.

  "All of the items we ordered have arrived and phase one is almost complete." Tony informed her as she almost ran along behind him. He moved swiftly and Lara had to be nimble as she made notes while he talked. "The kitchen cabinets have all been installed, and they are perfectly done. I personally went through every one of them with a level. The marble countertops are in place and the limestone floors are done."

  Lara examined the work as they stopped in the kitchen. "The appliances are all in and here's the wine fridge." Everything was perfection, even the custom butler's pantry. Tony continued, "The lighting fixtures and hardware need to be installed, but for the most part, phase one is complete and on budget." At this, Tony smiled and Lara felt like hugging him, but shook his hand instead. "Thank you, Tony. You've done amazing work here." Every line on Tony's suntanned face was visible when he smiled, "On to phase two!" he said with great enthusiasm. That would be all six of the bathrooms. Phase three would be Eliot's master suite area comprised of his master bath, reading room, and master bedroom. Lara was most nervous about getting that just right. Thus far, Eliot was more than happy with the renovation of his mansion and was planning a charity event at his estate to showcase Lara's work in the fall. She had told him he really didn't have to do that, but Eliot insisted.

  ~ Ben ~

  Ben had messaged Lara saying he was taking her to dinner and would meet her at the pink Victorian for their late afternoon walk with Einstein. He parked the Indian motorcycle behind her vehicle and took the stairs two at a time anticipating the kiss. He waited all day for this moment. As he opened the door her green eyes met his and she smiled, "Hi there, mystery man…" And his heart raced. Ben swept Lara into his arms as if he hadn't seen her for weeks even though he had cooked breakfast for her eight hours earlier. "I've missed you so much today…" he buried his face into her neck inhaling that warm sweet scent that drove him crazy. Then, without hesitation, his lips were on hers filling him with tender desire.

  As he pulled away he whispered, "I hope you won't be angry with me, but I did an errand today without you – and, I took some photos of a farmhouse possibly for us and a bungalow for your business…" Lara seemed surprised but interested to see the photos. He scrolled through the photos on his phone. Lara gushed, "Oh, the farm is beautiful. And that barn is fantastic." Ben was pleased she seemed to like the farmhouse. But when he showed her the photos of the bungalow, she was overjoyed, "Oh Ben, it's exactly what I want for my renovation business!" Ben was elated. She liked the bungalow even better than the farm property. He detected a definite tone of unbridled delight in her voice.

  He enjoyed watching her face light up with excitement. He lived for it, actually. "Good, I'm glad you like the bungalow. I put a down payment on it for you today." With exuberance, Lara squealed, "Really? Are you kidding?" Ben squinted, "I'm telling you the truth. I somehow knew you'd love it." Lara wrapped her arms around his neck, "Oh, I love you!" and kissed him again, this time a warm lingering kiss. He knew he would eat dinner in a hurry tonight to get more of this. It was as if he was addicted to intimacy with Lara lately. Maybe it was the eight long months he waited to share a physical relationship with her; maybe it was the two long years prior to that when he left the Navy, alone, completely alone with Einstein in a lonely dark place.

  "Dinner, my darlin', at your favorite place on Water Street tonight," he beamed. He could tell she was pleased when she smiled and her beautiful eyes met his with eager anticipation. She whispered, "Yes."

  As he watched her move through the kitchen, Lara touched the mail on the kitchen countertop, "Oh, I almost forgot…a small package arrived in the mail for you, Ben. I think it's from William." Ben took the small package and opened it. Inside was a copper dog tag that had the word, "Superman" engraved into it. It was a keychain. A small note was inside the package. Lara watched Ben’s eyes scan it and observed the raw emotion as it swept through him. "It's a Father's Day gift," he said softly staring at the note, "from my son." Lara touched his hand and left him alone for a moment in the kitchen.

  After taking Einstein on his late afternoon walk through the neighborhood, they rode the motorcycle to Water Street in Portland. Lara had to tie her flowing pink skirt up to ride the motorcycle, but she managed with Ben's help. The warmth of the June evening was delightful as they rode through the streets of Portland. Lara clung to Ben's muscled form on the bike, familiar now with his every move. As he helped her dismount, Ben was aware that every person on the cobblestone street swiveled their heads to gaze at Lara. He knew the guys were staring at her as if she was a famous model, but he didn't care. She was his wife and he was bursting with pride. "Just in time for a table, the last one…" the waiter announced as he ushered them to a small table near a window.

  Ben could keep his eye on the motorcycle from that vantage point, but he had a difficult time taking his eyes off Lara. She was absolutely glowing tonight. "Salmon!" they both said it simultaneously and laughed. With a serious tone, Ben asked, "Are you really okay with me putting that down payment on the bungalow for you? Or, were you just trying to make me feel good?" Gently, he took her soft feminine hand into his noticing the contrast to his broad paws. His finger touched the beautiful diamond ring on her hand. Lara smiled, "I am shocked you did it, but thrilled at the same time – sort of like when you brought me to St. John and took me for a beach walk and we ended up getting married…on the beach. Shocked and thrilled…those are the feelings I always have with you!"

  Ben smiled and his ego swelled with the knowledge that he could delight her. "Oh, one more thing…when I sent you a text, you said you'd stopped off to see Bettencourt…what was that about?" She explained the suspected abuse of the young woman next door to Diana Farrington's house. Ben felt his smile fading, "Damn, I wish you hadn't told Bettencourt about it. I wish you would have come to me." Lara looked confused, "Why?" Ben leaned closer to her, "Bettencourt is bound by the law. He will have to get a warrant and jump through hoops. I could've checked it out in a more clandestine way, if you know what I mean."

  The meal came to the table and Ben finished eating first, as usual. But he was fine with that. It gave him a few moments to observe everything about Lara as she finished her meal and sipped water through a straw, in her oh so feminine way. He wondered how long this feeling would last – being smitten with her like this. His heart skipped a beat when he saw her. He couldn't make love to her enough, yet when he did he was satisfied and physically drained. He slept like a rock lately. He wondered if he would ever wake up in the morning and not study her beautiful face and admire her feminine curves and enjoy a lingering kiss over breakfast. No. He decided at that moment he would never stop loving Lara. She stirred something in him that had neve
r been awakened before. It wasn't just the run-of-the-mill type of love; it was something extraordinary, that once-in-a-lifetime love. It truly defied words.

  ~ Lara ~

  The next morning at breakfast Lara noticed Ben’s attempt to sound casual when he mentioned a Dark Horse mission in the works. "All I can say is the target is in Connecticut. Elvis will be lead man on this one. I really can't say more about it." She knew he was omitting a great deal of information. But he turned on his Irish brogue…and he seemed to know just when to use it to melt her heart a little. Hesitant to do so, Lara shared her anxieties with him, "I worry about you. I know, I promised not to worry when we got married. But do you know how hard that is for me? I was filled with anxiety before I ever met you; so now it's really awful sometimes." Her eyes were pleading with him, hopeful she would get through the hard shell he put up when the subject of his Dark Horse missions came up. But she could tell he was in already in battle-mode.

  She knew the mission was already sketched in his mind. She was familiar with the look on his face and the vacant stare in his deep blue eyes. "I'll be off to Connecticut for a week or so, but I will call and text you …and, if you need me for anything…I'll drive home as quickly as I can. Oh, my darlin', don't worry." He embraced her and she knew she would miss the familiar safety of his muscular arms. Lara sighed noticeably. "I'll keep myself busy with work." Ben handed her the realtor's business card. "Call Claire and have her show you the bungalow…your bungalow. Let her know I'll make the payment in full upon your approval."